Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Laura C.| M/V Sea Lion | 10/27/2019 | 12:00pm

Today was a glorious day out on the water with Captain Sarah!  M/V Sea Lion headed north bound towards Active Pass with rumors in the atmosphere of Bigg’s killer whales!  We were all surprised of how many harbor porpoises were seen along the way!  As we passed Shaw Island, it was obvious how productive the waters were today with a plethora of wildlife to observe.  The swirling currents produced an abundance of phytoplankton for some small...

M/V Sea Lion | Naturalist Alexandria | Friday, October 18th, 2019

What a fantastic day we had out on the water today!  We started out our trip and we had a unconfirmed report of orcas north of us.  By the time everyone had boarded and we were leaving Friday Harbor a few other boats from our area had confirmed this sighting, and we were excited to head towards them!

Little did we know though that there were still more whales to be seen!  As we were leaving the harbor we saw a Humpback...

Sarah | 10/15/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

We had a lovely October day out on the water, with a bit of Pacific Northwest liquid sunshine falling from the sky and amazing wildlife in the waters surrounding the San Juan Islands, today was autumnal whale watching at its best.

Captain Erick and I left Friday Harbor with a group of wonderful guests. With no initial reports of whales in the area we had decided to leave the harbor and head south. We had no sooner started to pick up speed...

M/V Sea Lion| Sunday, October 13th, 2019 | Naturalist Alexandria

What a full day we had today!  With fall in full swing here on San Juan Island, it sure turned out to be the perfect fall day! The sunshine was out as we departed on our trip aboard M/V Sea Lion and we had already heard of a report of orcas in Rosario Strait!

We headed out of Friday Harbor and aimed towards that report.  On our way we were lucky enough to see some Harbor porpoise swimming by us, these critters are...

Naturalist Erick | Sunday, October 13, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | Noon

We couldn’t ask for better fall weather today when Capt. Pete and I took a full group out to go search for wildlife in the Salish Sea.  We started out by heading east through Upright Channel and through the small passage between Obstruction Island and Blakely Island called Peavine Pass. We had heard earlier of reports of some orcas in Rosario Strait and were looking for them. There they were heading north towards...

M/V Kestrel| Saturday, October 12th, 2019 | Naturalist Alexandria

We had a great day on the water today!  As we headed out on M/V Kestrel the day was looking promising!  What had started out as a bit of a gloomy and wet day had dried up, and there was even some sunshine peeking through the clouds! 

We already had reports of orcas a bit west of Victoria, and lucky for us they were heading closer to us!  We knew it was going to be a bit of a trek but we were more than ready for our...

Sarah | 10/12/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

What an incredible day on the water! After an early morning report of a huge group of orcas moving east in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Captain Erick and I were eager to leave the dock here in Friday Harbor to go out and explore!

We decided to head south out of the harbor, and on the way out towards open water we stopped to check out some Steller’s sea lions hauled out on Whale Rocks in Cattle Pass between San Juan and Lopez Islands. These...

Naturalist Erick | Wednesday, October 9, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | Noon

Today, was another sunny, fall day in the San Juan Islands. Captain Sarah and I headed out to search for some wonderful wildlife. We headed south through San Juan Channel and as we passed Turn Island we spotted a majestic Bald Eagle soaring along the rocky, cliff-lined island. We usually see the Eagles being lazy and perched on a rock or tree. This one was soaring in the blustery fall air and making dives over the...

Piper | Sunday, October 6, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM

Today it was Captain Erick and I on the Sea Lion with some really lovely guests and we headed south in San Juan Channel, on our way down to scan the Strait of Juan de Fuca! On our way through the channel our first wildlife spotting was a pair of bald eagles soaring through the sky just off our port side! Their impressive six-foot wingspan was in full view as we passed each other, our boat slowing down shortly after as Captain...

Piper | Saturday, October 5, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM

Today started out so dreary but by the time we were gathering for our 12:00 Classic trip, the rain dried up and the sun was just starting to peak through the clouds, making for a beautiful day on the water!! Captain Sarah, Jacob, our Kayak Operations Manager, and I took a truly awesome and enthusiastic group of folks out into the Salish Sea today, heading northwest towards a report of Bigg’s killer whales which had been...